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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: file · land · bat · hide · bay · degree · row · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. degree — an amount
  3. file — a tool
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bat — the animal
  6. land — to come down
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. land — a country
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. row — a line
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. file — a document
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — ground
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com